Many automobiles are manufactured with a remotely actuated hood release, allowing the driver to unlatch the hood by means of a lever located in the passenger compartment of the automobile. This feature provides a convenient means to release the hood for access to the engine compartment. Such hood release mechanisms typically utilize an actuator control cable assembly consisting of a flexible outer sheath encasing a multi-strand cable wire capable of free coaxial movement within the sheath. The control cable assembly is installed such that the sheath is captively engaged at both ends, typically with snap-fit type fasteners which are mounted near the ends of the sheath portion of the cable and then pressed into a mating hole or slot such that the interior cable wire is movable within the fixed sheath. One end of the wire is connected to a hood release lever accessible from within the passenger compartment. The opposite end of the cable wire is connected to a spring-loaded hood release latch, which when engaged maintains the hood in its closed position. To release the hood, the operator pulls on the release lever, causing the cable wire to move proportionally. The cable wire pulls the primary latch in opposition to the latch spring, causing the latch to move to an unlocked position and release the hood. A secondary safety catch is typically provided which must then be manually actuated to fully release the hood.
Such remote hood release mechanisms are well-known in the art. However, they suffer from several shortcomings. In particular, the snap-fit fastener which holds the control cable in a fixed position may become disengaged from the hood latching mechanism due to excessive shock or vibration, such as from a frontal impact to the vehicle resulting from a collision, thereby actuating the hood release or otherwise rendering the hood release ineffective. Prior attempts to overcome this shortcoming include the addition of a secondary clamp to act directly against the cable sheath to maintain the snap-fit fastener in its slotted position. This mechanism is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,258 issued to Mochida. However, such clamping mechanisms require additional tools and labor to install, increasing the manufacturing cost of the automobile and causing greater difficulty in replacing a worn or broken control cable. In addition, the rigid nature of clamping-type retainers can cause excessive pressure on the sheath, thus restricting the movement of the enclosed cable wire. Clamping-type retainers may also cause deformation of the control cable upon impact during an automobile collision, binding the movement operation of the hood release.
It should be noted that the prior art may provide sufficient protection to prevent unintentional release of the hood latch. However, additional protection against loss of hood release operability may be a desired convenience option in some instances. It is further desirable to utilize a structure that requires no special tools or added labor to install.